Passion is the foundation of any podcast

Podcasting passion will help you get past being stuck if you focus on what you’re interested in AND how much energy you put into learning more about it.

The process of creating a podcast starts out with a question: What are you an expert in that you are ALSO passionate about?

Podcasting as a lot to do with what you are good at AND what you are passionate about. These are the things that get you going in the morning. This could be something you are an expert in academically, personally, or professionally.

Consider this:You could be an expert in roses.You could be an expert in guns.You could be an expert in hard rock.You could even be the gardener that loves talking about Guns & Roses!

You can be a combination of all these things. All you need to do is figure out what you are an expert in because everyone is an expert at something; even YOU! However, you need to be passionate about that subject too.

In order to keep the momentum going for your podcast, you have to care about the content. It cannot be something you want to talk about that is only casually interesting to you, or only designed to generate money. You have to actually be honest about your passion. Why do you have to honest about this? Because it will come out in your voice and in the way you talk about the topic.

You can consider dedicating your podcast towards something that you love but are only somewhat good at. Or it could something that you’ve always wanted to explore, but never had an outlet to focus your curiosity. Lack of expertise can be overcome by a passion for knowledge. Many podcasters have created great shows without being an expert on the topic. They only had the curiosity and dedication to enjoy exploring it in-depth and helping others understand it by talking through their own ponderings. Spend your time in driving towards the creation of your expertise by making the journey itself the shows. Be the tour guide through a topic from your point of view and think of your show as explaining what you learned to someone who might want to learn more.

Whether you’re approaching your passion as the scholar or the journeyman, passion for the subject is far more important to you when it comes to deciding what to develop a podcast about. Why is it so important? Let’s replace the word passion with energy. If you have the energy to dedicate to your podcast topic, then you have the resources — deep inside your own creative muse — to keep going when it gets hard. Passion — or energy — about your topic is the glue that holds your podcast together. Without that passion, you will lead yourself astray by not having anything to anchor your show on.

The cautionary tale that I am trying to get you to understand her is the warning that one day you’re going to get stuck. Life happens when you’re planning a podcast. This means that despite all your good intentions, life is either going to derail you, or you’re simply going to run out of energy. Only the lack of energy comes out in a very common way: getting bored with your topic. Which in turn, will cause you to get bored with podcasting. Are you really bored, or are you just out of energy? I think they are interconnected. Think of it mathematically:

Passion = Interest + Energy –> P=I+E

Yup — That is PIE! And you can’t have PIE until you eat your vegetables! Or in creative strategy vernacular, you cannot enjoy your passion unless you put the work into the topic with the energy you need to carry it through. Lose your interest or your energy and your passion will die. When that day comes — and it will come — you’re not going to know what to do next. Passion about the topic can lift you out of these times of discouragement, but it will take work and energy to bring the muse back to life.

When you really believe in your subject (interest) and where you are taking it (energy), you can find an infinite number of topics to talk about for a podcast. However, when you are doing your podcast without that level of commitment in your subject matter, the first 13 episodes you did happen to create will often become your last. Missing slices of your PIE will result in podfading: the ghosting of a podcast when the creator just walks away from the audience.

Don’t lead yourself down the podfade path. Find a topic that you are interested in and that speaks to you and who you are. Make THAT your podcast topic to build your audience around by putting the time into growing it. Discipline can sometimes be the answer to keeping your energy going. Planning is another solution to low energy turnout. I find that goals make the best energy. If you have a goal to reach a certain point or connect a specific number of dots, the end result will be a podcast that lasts through good times and bad.

Passion is not something you have, it is something you create. It takes interest and energy to generate passion. Focus on developing both of those ingredients and you will never run out.

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About Me

Kyle Bondo is a thinker, podcaster, author, and creative strategy dragon seeking to make a small dent in the universe. With over 20-years of experience in finding creative ways to solve business and technology challenges, Kyle is the missing link between your ponytails and propeller heads. More a sure-footed mountain goat then unicorn, Kyle is right kind of weird for those teams that need a creative perspective on wicked problems.